I sent the pictures to Mister Aki Shiokawa at Deviser and just got a very interesting letter from him. See below:

2008/9/1 Aki Shiokawa 塩川彰規 (Deviser) <aki-shiokawa@deviser.co.jp>
Dear Mr.Throstur Ingolfur Vidisson,
Thank you very much for your enquiry.
I am glad to hear that you like the guitar.
Your guitar looks like BLS-59V HCS, not BLS-120.
I can not track it by the serial number because back then
we do not keep the record of of serial numbers.
But, we are selling this model between November 1997 to July 1999.
Should you have any additional questions, please contact me.
Best regards,
Aki Shiokawa
Deviser Co. Ltd.
7072-6 Sasaga, Matsumoto, Nagano, Japan
Mail: aki-shiokawa@deviser.co.jp
Web site: http://www.deviser.co.jp
Tel: 81-263-26-8798
Fax: 81-263-26-8324_________________"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side."
-- Hunter S. Thompson

Yes... HCS? Sounds close to Heritage Cherry Sunburst, doesn?t it? I will check pot dates tomorrow. Cheers!_________________"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side."
-- Hunter S. Thompson

Took off the cover and found out that the pots have no date. They are big and all of them stamped with ink "Made in Japan" and "500K". Nothing else.

When I bought it, it was said to be a BLS-120 from around 2000, and now Aki Shiokawa at Deviser tells me that it is called Bacchus 59V HCS from between 1997 -1999.

Not that it really matters. It?s a fantastic guitar and a keeper, for very decent money. Maybe I?ll start up a new thread one day and ask for information and options on this. It?s always fun to try to find out about things like that _________________"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side."
-- Hunter S. Thompson

Just thought I'd jump in here and say a word on Bacchus too. I have gone through a few Tokais in my time and I have settled on my LS200 as a keeper. The others I have thought were really great until I started to see, hold and play Bacchus. These guitars are truly stunning. The workmanship on the handmade series is second to none! Their pickups and electronic are fantastic. I have an 04 G Studio QM and recently bought an ST 62 from Hisashi. The ST62 is awesome in every way. Beautiful to play, sounds amazing and built exquisitly. Bacchus is the way to go my friends. I still love Tokai but not nearly as much!

Just thought I'd jump in here and say a word on Bacchus too. I have gone through a few Tokais in my time and I have settled on my LS200 as a keeper. The others I have thought were really great until I started to see, hold and play Bacchus. These guitars are truly stunning. The workmanship on the handmade series is second to none! Their pickups and electronic are fantastic. I have an 04 G Studio QM and recently bought an ST 62 from Hisashi. The ST62 is awesome in every way. Beautiful to play, sounds amazing and built exquisitly. Bacchus is the way to go my friends. I still love Tokai but not nearly as much!

Thanks for jumping in QuattroSte. I have be bitten by the B-bug. It so happenes that I am thinking of buying a Bacchus BST-62. Yes the Bacchus took me by surprise. I have had a lot of very expensive "high end" USA guitars and I have not always be happy with them Some have been good, some less than good.

Thanks Hishashi for jumping in to. I bought a Bacchus Vintage Series J-Bass from you, it arrived yesterday. I bought it for my friend and he is very happy _________________"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side."
-- Hunter S. Thompson

Dear Mr.Throstur Ingolfur Vidisson,
Thank you very much for your enquiry.
I am glad to hear that you like the guitar.
Your guitar looks like BLS-59V HCS, not BLS-120.
I can not track it by the serial number because back then
we do not keep the record of of serial numbers.
But, we are selling this model between November 1997 to July 1999.
Should you have any additional questions, please contact me.
Best regards,
Aki Shiokawa
Deviser Co. Ltd.

No, you are probably right. Dead accurate was an overstatement. I was a little excited about it when I wrote the post. It is however a fantastic player and a very well made guitar.

I have never seen a real 1959 Burst except on pictures. However I have read much about it, seen clones, replicas and reissues, even from Gibson that are more different from the real ?59 than this guitar.

Correct me if I am wrong: As far as I know the ?59 Burst did not have fret end bindings However it seems to me that Gibson has made '59 and '57 reissue guitars with 14? headstock, fret end bindings, short tenon and more. I call it a bluff not a reissue._________________"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side."
-- Hunter S. Thompson

You might want to research Gibsons a bit more before passing judgement. Vintage Les Paul Standard does have binding nibs, and their reissue guitars are more accurate than you give them credit for. Gibson reissues are not perfect but what you are saying is not based on facts.

You might want to research Gibsons a bit more before passing judgement. Vintage Les Paul Standard does have binding nibs, and their reissue guitars are more accurate than you give them credit for. Gibson reissues are not perfect but what you are saying is not based on facts.

Sorry, I said: Correct me if I am wrong. Thank you for correcting me on the nibs.
However I must tell you that I have had 8 Gibson Les Paul guitars, 5 Gibson SG guitars and 1 ES 335. I have played them all a lot and I am a big fan of Gibson guitars.
I am now sitting with my friends Gibson Limited Edition 1958 Standard in my lap. It seems to me that the headstock angle is 14? on this guitar and it has fret end bindings._________________"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side."
-- Hunter S. Thompson